Chapter 14

Kurotsuchi briefly let her heart swell at the sight of all the people crowding down below the streets to get a view of the official announcement. At that time, only the highest-ranking shinobi knew about the announcement and had let it slip to the populace slightly, but not enough time had transpired for it to reach the entire population. So, she had a front row seat in watching the emotion of the people transform throughout the speech. The civilians, shinobi, men, women, children, protractors for peace, detractors for peace; she got to see how their faces changed to the new information provided for them.

A new kage, the sister of the previous one. A contract that settled peace between all five major nations and the minor ones as well. A polyamorous marriage that kept it all wrapped up, one which the new kage was a part of.

Kurotsuchi wasn't aware of which tidbit of information got the most confusion from the people: the idea of peace, or that it would be tied to a six-way marriage.

But, at the end of it, there wasn't a riot at the very least. Yelling for answers to their myriad questions, yes, but nothing belligerent, which she was grateful for. She had the idea that the village hidden in leaves was a little bit more understanding, having a more optimistic attitude than the others. And so, at the sight of the faces of the people, their skin and emotions both equally weathered, Kurotsuchi had let fear enter her heart.

Jiraiya clapped his hands and the top of the kage building erupted in smoke, jolting Kurotsuchi out of her thoughts. She body flickered back in the building as soon as she could and stumbled next to her grandfather, looking at the tall and imposing stature of Jiraiya behind the desk, next to Temari, who was doing her own attempt at an imposing pose.

And damnit if it didn't look imposing.

Kurotsuchi bit her lip and stepped back a few feet, firmly in the very back of the room. Jiraiya was talking, but she wasn't listening, not anymore. She took a few more steps back and felt the handle of the door with her hand, grasping it firmly, and was about to pull back when a more feminine voice cut it.

"And I would like to thank you all," Temari said, her voice deep and full of pride. She spoke like an entirely different person when she was in 'kage-mode', when she was talking to people who weren't her friends.

Wait, friends? Were they friends? Kurotsuchi didn't like the girl, but there wasn't a sheer, unassailable malice in her heart towards her. It was more akin to a grudge at that point. Sure, she didn't like that she fucked Naruto, but it wasn't like she staked a claim. While she was whiling away at how she felt, he got taken by someone else.

Temari was still talking. Something about how the change in her title shouldn't necessitate a change in relationship, or something. She wasn't really listening. What captured her attention was Fu, who was decidedly also not paying attention. The girl busied her time with staring at Naruto with half-lidded eyes. The girl wore her emotions on her sleeve, Kurotsuchi had to give at least that much credit, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Well, Naruto might have had a technical harem a few weeks ago, but he had an official harem now.

And with that sullen and depraved thought, Kurotsuchi tugged the door so it made no noise and slipped outside for some time alone. Most of her days had been spent trying to avoid Naruto by hanging out with everyone else even tangentially related to him. His teammate, master, teacher, Mei, Fu, Yugito, hell even Ai, Shibuki, and her grandfather.

She could tell that they knew what was happening with her mind frame, but they never brought anything up, which she was grateful for. They spent time doing nothing much at all: tours, food, interesting people, the like. Turns out, none of them had been to the hidden village of sand for anything other than to try to conduct a raid on it, so ingratiating with the culture was a little bit nice for everyone involved.

But now, she wanted silence. And she was given that silence as she plodded through the stark hallway leading to the stairs leading to the hallway leading to the exit leading to outside. It was hot, dry, and bright out, but that much was what she expected. Everyone outside was still in the process of dispersing and she attempted to do the same.

The sand crunched under her feet as she stared at everything. The sky, the ground, people walking to and fro, children playing with balls, shop stalls, residences, everything had a purpose to its step.

And what was she doing?

She was still musing that question when she hopped up on the wall looking out to the desert and sat down. A guard or two recognized her, but didn't approach. Diplomatic protection and all that.

She looked out at where the yellow sand met the blue sky at the horizon. All the birds in the sky, all the insects in the ground, even the forces of nature all moved with purpose. And she felt like she didn't. Like she was just riding on a wave going somewhere she didn't know at a slow and leisurely pace.

And then someone sat next to her. "It is pretty in a sort of way," Mei mused. "But I don't think I could look at it for very long without going crazy."

Kurotsuchi blinked and looked at the older woman. "Why are you doing this?" she asked suddenly and maybe with too much venom.

Mei gave a matronly smile. "I noticed you slipped out and went to investigate where you were going. You looked like you needed someone to talk to."

Kurotsuchi shook her head. "That's not what I meant. Why are you… doing this?"

Mei's face fell slightly and returned her view to the desert. "A few different reasons, I suppose. World peace is a big one. My country is still recovering from a war and we need all the help we can get. And help without the possibility of a knife in the back is always welcome. And… I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I was never any good at maintaining a relationship. It always fell apart at one point or another and I guess I thought the idea of an arranged marriage to another country's royalty was always romantic to me."

Kurotsuchi's eyebrows went up slightly. "Really robbing the cradle with that one."

Mei put her hands to her hips and maintained an indignant attitude. "Okay, okay, okay now. It was a passing thought before I found out his age. The previous reasons reign supreme. Anyway, why the curiosity?"

Kurotsuchi couldn't find the right words for a little bit. She knew how she was feeling, but how could she put those feelings to words? She couldn't. It was impossible. "It's just… when I see everyone, they're all looking at something that isn't there yet, you know? Like, the future, or something. They're walking forward and they know where they're going and they want to go there and they look forward to what they'll find when they reach there, but I'm… but… I'm…"

"You don't care."

It was declarative, not accusatory. Kurotsuchi's face turned to meet Mei's, whose face had grown somber. "It's okay," she continued on. "You're young and the world is changing. When you don't even know which way is forward, it's hard to take a step without knowing you want to."

Kurotsuchi's arms settled over her stomach. "So, you do?"

Mei nodded. "During the war… at times, nothing seemed to be changing. Both sides bled, both sides grieved and angered, and both sides thought they were the right one. And, at one point, I woke up from a bad dream with a thought on my mind. 'If someone with an unbiased perspective looked at this fight, would they see me as the righteous one?'. That thought… that… that feeling, it debilitates you. And no, maybe it's not to the same intensity as mine was, but you have to figure out what's right to you. And then you need to do it."

Kurotsuchi's face fell into her hands. "But I don't know what I want to do."

"Well, what did you want to do before you came here?"

"I wanted to be a good kunoichi. Make my dad proud, my grandad proud, kill a few leaf nin. Retire, hopefully. Probably no kids. I'd make a shit mom. And then… I don't know. While away time complaining about shit that I have no intention of changing."

"How self-reflective of you."

Kurotsuchi returned a blank stare. "I was joking," she looked away. "I don't know. I've never really thought about the future. I just… let things happen. And now I'm here."

"Do you like it?" she asked.

Kurotsuchi shrugged. "Kinda hot for my tastes."

"If you're not going to take this seriously-"

"Oh, lighten up a little bit," Kurotsuchi said with a bit of a scowl. "I don't know," she conceded. "Could be worse, I guess. I'm not a POW in an enemy state. That's always a plus. The people around me are nice. World peace is good. Have to worry about the Akatsuki; not too thrilled about that. And…"

"Naruto?"

She crossed her arms over her knees and brooded towards the horizon line. "I'm not much for sharing, thank you very much."

"But you still like him?"

Her head slipped down until her forehead was cradled by arms. "Yeah," she Said, muffled by her own appendages. "I like him."

"I hear the roster still has a few open slots available," Mei said as enticingly as she could.

Kurotsuchi grimaced and looked at the older woman. "I think I did just say that I wasn't the sharing type," she nested her chin back in her arms. "What about you, anyway?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"What about me?"

"How do you feel about him?"

Mei considered the question for a very long time with a neutral face, gazing at the expansive and endless desert. It was a face that Kurotsuchi had never quite seen before. It was contemplative and serious. The woman turned her head to look at Kurotsuchi in the eyes before morphing into a joyous and mischievous one. "That's a secret," she said, putting her index finger to her lower lip.

Kurotsuchi squinted her eyes at her. "I think I fucking hate you."

Mei shrugged and reclined back, seeming to bask in the heat. "How do you think I feel? He's a nice kid and all, with a sweet face, a good body… endless enthusiasm… an insatiable desire to impress… uhh… what were we talking about?"

"About how you should wipe the drool from your lips."

"Which lips are we talking about here?"

It took Kurotsuchi a few seconds to understand the lewd joke and a few more to verbalize her disapproval with the woman. "J-Jeezuz, aren't you the one who told me to take our little 'chat' seriously?"

"You can't expect me to maintain a serious aura for more than five minutes, can you? It's not in my personality. And to answer your previous question seriously, I would have to say that he's a nice boy. He's not quite mature enough for my tastes, but he might get there. Or he might not. The future's uncertain."

"And if he does get there?" Kurotsuchi asked.

With a finger to her lip and a mischievous smirk, Mei replied "That's a secret."

Kurotsuchi sighed and laid back to look up at the sun as a change of scenery. "I don't get how you could share someone you love."

"Do we not do so all the time?"

Kurotsuchi shielded her eyes from the sun. "Oh, could you please not go on about some sort of vague and cockamamie explanation as to why I should be okay with my theoretical boyfriend fucking other chicks? Why does everyone have to have all these weird and convoluted ideas of what love is? Can't it be simple? Can't it just be how most people view it?"

"Everyone has multitudes, Kurotsuchi. It's not something you can run from."

The girl in question rolled over to her stomach. "Try me."

00000000

The air was thick with the stench of volcanic fumes and burnt hair. It was cloggingly so, especially for Kisame's powerful sense of smell. He daren't complain, however, especially not in the presence of the zombie in red armor and… well, whoever the hell Tobi was.

He reached down and picked the old man up by the back of his jacket and hoisted him onto his shoulders. The Jinchuuriki of the five-tails. Might've been difficult to take down given his vast combat experience and seemingly fair relationship with his beast, but not with those two on his team. No, it was completely one-sided. It took all of thirty seconds and it only took that long because they were toying with him.

Kisame was good at looking at himself with a third-person perspective; he knew his limitations and what he could do. And he was damn impressive, if he dare say so. Standing next to those two made him feel like a child. No, worse than a child.

A pack mule.

"Where to next?" Kisame asked.

"The land of Hot Springs," Madara said in a clipped voice, eyes focused on the horizon. Tobi next to him nodded his head ever so slightly.

Kisame felt his brow shift. "Hot Springs? That's a skip across the continent. How is there not a hideout closer?"

Madara turned to him and he felt his already cold blood get even chillier. The gaze wasn't hostile, it was just looking through him. Like his sole existence was to carry an old man who was about to die.

And it sort of was, at the moment.

"We aren't going to the nearest hideout. We're going to the four-tails. Then the six-tails."

Kisame waited a beat for him to continue on, but nothing came after that. "We're going… right now?"

Madara sighed. "Yes, we're going right now."

Hearing that, Tobi walked forward and grasped both of their shoulders at the same time.

Then reality distorted.

00000000

Naruto stood at the gates of the village hidden in sand with his hands on his hips and a happy sigh on his breath. Much had happened in the time that he spent there. So much so that it was almost incomprehensible that it was only a few days. It was, however, over with. And with a new road to take and a smattering of cheering citizens to send their party off, Naruto was faced with a new adventure.

And more walking, which he felt in the form of a painful jab to the ribs and a forceful "Come on!"

He turned around with an apologetic, yet happy-go-lucky, grin on his face and was halfway through muttering "Sorry Sakura-chan" on instinct before he realized it wasn't a girl with pink hair that nudged him but one with black hair, who looked back at him confusedly.

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing Kurotsuchi," he said, sobering up his personality slightly. He'd only gotten frosty readings from her ever since he landed in sand with the rest of them, which, to be honest, was somewhat warranted. But he never knew how to breach a subject between them. It might have been much better if she exploded at him in a flurry of emotion, because then at least he'd know where their relationship was. But she couldn't do that either, at least not in good conscience. Irascible she may be, foolish she was not.

And yet, that clipped "Nothing Kurotsuchi," as his gaze shifted to the left and his attitude fell down a few notches brought her mood down right with it. She still liked him. Hell, it might even be love. She just didn't like the fact that he was fucking Temari and maybe Fu.

The motley caravan had already proceeded a fair bit ahead of them to let Naruto wave behind them and for Kurotsuchi to drag him back when he took too long, so it was just the two of them for a little bit. "Hey Naruto," she asked on instinct, before she could stop herself. "What is it that you want to do?"

He looked at her like she was speaking in tongues. "Huh?"

"You know, why is it that you're… still… walking forward?"

He breathed out a heavy sigh and took a while to answer. "Well, first, I want to become Hokage."

"You've told me that."

"So I have. And, to do that, I have to treat everyone in the village like they're family to me. And I have to protect my family and my friends. And… have I told you about Sasuke?"

"In brief."

"Well, he's my best friend. We were on a team together for a while until he… defected. It's a bit of a story so I won't go on about it, but he basically chose revenge over me and Sakura and Kakashi and just about everyone else who loved him. So, until I drag him right back until he's with us, I can't say that I've protected my family and friends. And if I can't do that, then I can't become Hokage."

For a few seconds, the only sound that came between them was the sound of sand grains crunching underneath their feet. "But that…" Kurotsuchi started in brief. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Huh?" he asked.

"That's like, I'm sorry to say this, but it's naïve. Your friend betrayed you and everyone you love and you're still going after him?"

He shrugged uncertainly. "Uh, yeah. Of course I am. He's my best friend."

She put her hand to her temple. "I don't get you. You're like a fount of unceasing happiness and optimism. He treated you like dirt. He almost killed you. He ran away from everyone! And you're still going after him? That's not noble or loyal or good. That's foolish."

A dour silence grew between them. "You talked to Sakura?" he asked, voice low and eyes half-lidded.

She nodded, looking ahead of them and wishing she didn't talk.

He sighed and stared at the ground. "I know that, okay? He was always an ass to me. And I was an ass to him, but… But that was because we were the only people who could understand each other. I was alone for so long and he was too. We're connected, you know. I'm going to bring him back, no matter what it takes."

She shook her head. "And what if he tries to kill you again? Or your friends? Your village? The entire fucking world?"

"I'll be there to stop him," he said in a way that almost seemed to cause physical pain. "I'm not getting strong for nothing. I'm not training myself every day until I can barely walk just for the looks. This all," he said, gesturing to the caravan ahead of them. "As soon as it ends, I'm going to find Orochimaru, get Sasuke, and drag him back to the village."

"It can't be that simple. He's not going to accept you back with open arms."

"How do you know? You don't know anything about me!"

Before he could take back his words, something floored him. Rather than looking hurt or angry, Kurotsuchi was simply smirking. "I think I know more than you give me credit for. I… I care about you. I really do, you have to believe that. But… just think about it some more, okay?"

His mouth scrunched up. "I have thought about. For a very long time. I know I'm not that smart, but I know what's right and what's wrong. I just… I know that he isn't a bad guy. I know it. I just need to talk to him. Get him to understand what he tried to throw away. Get him to understand that revenge only gets you more hurt in the end."

Kurotsuchi crossed her arms over her chest. "I know that you're all about not cutting the bonds that you've cultivated, but sometimes people change. Relationships change. Everything changes; that's the whole point of being alive. It's to change yourself. Sometimes you have to cut bonds."

He seemed to dwell on those words for a little bit. "I wouldn't give up on you," he said.

She gulped and looked away, a slight red dusting her cheeks. "Thanks," she mumbled. "But it'd be a pain if I didn't like you anymore and you didn't leave me alone."

"Maybe," he acquiesced. "But that's not going to happen."

She had to look away and at the sand. Why did his words make her so happy? "Is… is that it?" she asked. "Anything else you want to do? Other than becoming Hokage?"

Another pause. "Well, no. I also like to do my normal things. Eating ramen, hanging out with friends, that sort of thing. And uhm…" his face colored red. "You."

Her eyebrows lifted up slightly. His last word hung in the air for a few seconds longer than he would have wished. He was about to backtrack when she giggled a little bit into her hand. "Smooth," she said. "Real smooth."